City of El Paso seeks proposals for Downtown convention hotel

The city of El Paso is seeking proposals from developers to build an upscale convention center hotel in Downtown with at least 250 rooms and operated under a well-known hotel brand.

Bryan Crowe, general manager of Destination El Paso, the city's convention and visitors' bureau, said El Paso needs a "convention quality hotel within walking distance of the convention center" to better compete for large, state association meetings and conventions.

City officials for years have echoed Crowe's sentiments. But City Council is now trying to light a fire with last week's issuance of the city's 176-page request for proposals.

REPORTER

Vic Kolenc

The city will give the highest points to a developer with a proposed hotel site closest to the Downtown convention center and favor proposals seeking the smallest amount of city incentives to build it, the request states.

The developer would be solely responsible for financing, building, and operating the hotel.

Proposals are due Dec. 10. No deadline is given for having the hotel built.

Rick LaFleur, general manager of the 273-room El Paso Airport Wyndham Hotel and president of the El Paso Hotel-Motel Association, said he doesn't mind the city seeking proposals for a Downtown convention hotel, but he doesn't want the city giving out tax incentives as it has done for other Downtown hotels and a proposed airport-area hotel.

Advertisement

"I'm not sure if they will get much response," but developers are likely to want tax incentives to build it because the city has already set the precedent with other projects, he said.

Property tax and sales tax incentives not only hit taxpayers' pockets, but also put competing hotels at a disadvantage, LaFleur said.

"If the demand was there, someone would build it" without incentives, Crowe said. "Downtown is getting more popular" with the new Downtown ballpark and other activity, he noted. "With time, as Downtown continues to grow, hotels will come."

Crowe said Downtown now has three major hotels with about 670 rooms. But, he said, Downtown needs more than 800 rooms, and needs a modern, large convention hotel to attract more and larger conventions.

The Camino Real Hotel, the largest hotel Downtown, and across the street from the convention center, is outdated and not at the standard many groups want in a convention hotel, Crowe said. Many of its 357 rooms have not been in operation in recent years and a long-promised renovation by the owner, a Mexico City hotel company, has yet to take place.

The 200-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, which opened five years ago after an extensive renovation, has helped the Downtown market, but does not have much meeting space, Crowe said.

Two other Downtown hotels are in the works: The Hotel Indigo, with 115 to 120 rooms, in the former Artisan Hotel property at 325 N. Kansas; and an El Paso investment group is proposing a 100-room hotel in the vacant, historic Bassett Tower.

The DoubleTree has received tax incentives, and Hotel Indigo also is to get tax incentives.

El Paso will get about 35 conventions and meetings this year, but most of those will be small, Crowe said.

El Paso gets only about eight large conventions in a year with at least 250 visitors who will use hotel rooms, he said. The aim is to increase the number of large conventions, and a new Downtown convention hotel will help recruit them, he said.

The city is seeking a company or team with demonstrated experience in development, financing, design, construction, and operation of full-service, convention-oriented hotels in major business travel markets, the city request states. The winning developer will be solely responsible for financing, building, and operating the hotel, it adds.

The city is looking for a hotel with "facilities and amenities on a level comparable to hotel products such as, but not limited to, a full-service Hilton, Hyatt, Omni, or Renaissance hotels," the request states.

However, the city also is interested in proposals that would offer "distinctive features and amenities" to "set El Paso apart from other destinations," the request states.

An evaluation committee will be formed to evaluate proposals and compile a short list of the most competitive proposals, the request states. City Council will make the final award. No award date has been set.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — A West Texas man has been charged with impersonating an officer by using sirens and flashing lights to skip to the head of the drive-thru line at a fast-food restaurant. Full Story